AS the country moves towards transition to a new administration, the Duterte administration’s Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) has expressed confidence that the country will not see an end to the enactment of more game-changing reforms under the fresh leadership of president-elect Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.
In a statement, the DBCC enthused that it stands at the ready to work closely with the economic managers of the incoming administration in order to achieve more sustainable and inclusive growth for the Filipino people.
The committee disclosed that it has reviewed the government’s medium-term macroeconomic assumptions, fiscal program and growth targets for FY 2022 to 2025 and it has taken into account recent domestic trends and external developments.
These adjustments, it said, are also in line with the preparation of the FY 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP). Based on a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Philippine economy grew by 8.3 percent in the first quarter of 2022, surpassing the pre-pandemic gross domestic product level. This exceeded the median analyst forecast of 6.7 percent, making our country one of the fastest-growing economies if not in the world but in the Southeast Asian region.
The DBCC explained that broad-based growth was driven by industry at 10.4 percent and services as well at 8.6 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, agriculture also slightly improved by 0.2 percent as the sector was held back by the persistence of African swine fever and elevated prices of basic agricultural commodities, among others.
